Interview: Robben Ford - One Guitar, One Pickup, One Album

Robben Ford chose a little-used axe from his collection for the new album–a 1966 Epiphone Riviera.
Photo by George B. Wells

Blues-bopper Robben Ford has
done more to develop the
more sophisticated side of blues
guitar than anyone since T-Bone
Walker. Without blinking an eye,
he can move from a sweet, B.B.
King-inspired bend to a furious
diminished-scale run—and make
it all work seamlessly. His playing
encompasses a lot more than those
two extremes, but no matter where
his muse takes him, that ability to
be both approachable and intellectual
is always part of his sonic signature.
Even on his R&B-flavored new
album, Bringing It Back Home—on
which Ford challenged himself to
record everything through a single
pickup from one specific guitar, a
1966 Epiphone Riviera.

One of the main inspirations
for this unusual move came
from Kind of Blue, the seminal
1959 jazz album by trumpeter
Miles Davis—who Ford played
with back in 1986. “It presents
quite a moody thing,” Ford
says, “and it’s consistent—there
aren’t a lot of highs and lows.
It stays in one place and just
explores it.”

For the main sessions, Ford plugged into his trusty Dumble Overdrive Special, but used a Matchless 1x12 cab
instead of his usual 2x12 setup. Photo by Alison Toon

Once he’d decided on the
album’s approach, Ford had to
choose three things: the songs,
the players, and of course, the
guitar. He chose the ’66 Riviera
not because it was one of his
go-to guitars, but precisely
because it was not. “I bought it
around 1991, and as cool as it
was and as much as I liked it, it
just stayed under the piano,” he
says. He’s used it for the occasional
overdub and for his 2002
Blue Moon album. But until now,
the Epi pretty much went back
under that piano after each session.
After some attention from
Nashville luthier-to-the-stars Joe
Glaser–most notably a refret,
new bridge, and tailpiece–it
became such an integral part of
the vision of the album that Ford
purchased a second one. “The
original Bigsby just locked up the
sound a little too much and the
tension was wrong from my style
of playing,” Ford mentions.

Ford knew from the beginning
he wanted to rely mostly
on covers for the soulful vibe of
Bringing It Back Home. “Nobody
can write those songs today—there’s no way you can get the
same feeling that you find in
these songs from this particular
period in music,” he says. Given
that sentiment, it makes sense
that Ford was adamant about
choosing tunes he felt he could
present authentically. To that
end, bassist Andy Hess helped
Ford discover some lost R&B
gems—many with a decidedly
New Orleans bent—while they
were on tour in Italy last year.
“He’s a very funky guy—he gets
that feel thing,” Ford explains,
“So I asked him to send me a
bunch of music. God bless him,
he sent me 100 songs! It was a
goldmine of R&B, and there
was very little that I knew.”
Out of Hess’ bequeathed playlist
came “Trick Bag” and “Fair
Child,” both medium-tempo
groovers that highlight Ford’s
deft arranging skills.

But Hess didn’t provide all
the tunes. Through some exploration
on iTunes, Ford came
across Little Buddy Doyle’s version
of “Slick Capers Blues.” “I
came across a CD called Blues
Roots of the White Stripes, and
I like Jack White—I like what
he does—so I took a look at it
and checked out all the short
previews,” says Ford. “I heard
that harmonica [on ‘Slick Capers
Blues’] and thought, “That
could be trombone,” so I bought
the one song and based the
arrangement on it.”

"Nobody can write those songs today—there’s no way you can get the same feeling that you find in these songs
from this particular period in music," says Ford about why he chose mostly covers for his new album. Photo by Alison Toon

As for his choice of guitar for
Bringing It Back Home, Ford says
he used minimal effects—mostly
hints of delay and reverb in post
production—in order to keep
the tone of the Riviera a focal
point of the album. However, in
the intro of “You Go Your Way,”
he did use a tremolo pedal. “I
should be able to tell you what
the name of the pedal was, but
I’m so not a pedal guy. I get the
pedal, put it on there, and then
forget about it. There’s one setting,
and I turn it off and on
now and then.”

Ford’s long association
with Alexander Dumble and
his amplifiers has been well
documented over the years,
so it’s no surprise his mythical
Dumble Overdrive Special was
the amp of choice this time
around. However, Ford says he
didn’t want to employ it the
way he has previously. “I called
Alexander and said, ‘Look,
man, I’m looking to do a different
thing here’—I wanted
a very focused sound,” says
Ford. “He said to try just the
Dumble head with a single 12"
open-back cabinet.” This was a
bit of a change for Ford, who
normally uses an open-backed
2x12 with Celestion 65-watt
speakers. “I had one rehearsal,
two days before we started
recording, just with Harvey and
David. My cartage company
had a Matchless cabinet with, I
think, a Celestion speaker. We
tried it at the rehearsal and it
was perfect. With the 2x12 cab,
it’s just bigger and open. In this
situation, because of the levels I
would be playing at, the guitar
would sound smaller—the 2x12
just spreads it out, while the
single 12" is so clean. It’s like a lens. It’s a smaller picture, but it’s
clearer and it’s very present.”

With the songs, players, and
gear in place, Ford was ready to
focus on conveying the vibe of the
original versions. The goal wasn’t
to play a lot of notes or explore
more extended harmonies. “It’s not
about notes anymore, it’s about
colors. It’s about nuance. It’s about
phrasing. These are the things that
turn me on in music anyway. It’s
why I love Miles Davis’ playing
so much. He was not the greatest
trumpet player in the world, but
he was the greatest stylist in the
world. Jimi Hendrix—the same
thing. Not necessarily the greatest
guitarist in the world, but what he
did was incredible,” says Ford. “I
just love that style of simple blues
playing that is all about communication.
This record was all about
a feeling. ‘Joy’ is the word that
comes to mind—that’s my definition
of music.”

Since attending a Dave Matthews Band concert as a teenager, Jason has been into all things guitar. An Iowa native, Jason has degrees in Music Business from Minnesota State-Mankato and Jazz Pedagogy from the University of Northern Iowa. Since then, he has spent time doing everything from promotion at an indie music label to organizing guitar workshops all over the country. Currently, Jason lives with his wife, son, and daughter in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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